HIBBING — Nearly six months after a Hibbing public housing project originally planned for a city park was moved following community pushback, the story retains its happy ending.
The Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Hibbing announced Monday, Jan. 6, that the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency awarded it $25.92 million at the agency's December meeting. The funding was necessary for the project to move forward.
The 52-unit Cobb Cook Place will be built on 5 acres of city-owned land behind Grace Lutheran Church. The project includes a three-story building with 13 one-bedroom and 26 two-bedroom apartments and eight three-bedroom and five four-bedroom units in townhomes.
"This award will have a positive impact on our workforce housing, replacing 52 units of public housing at the Greenhaven Apartments," said HRA Executive Director Jackie Prescott in a news release.
"We are so grateful for the support of local leaders and the community for this project. The extremely competitive application would not be a possibility without the support of our community."
Prescott told KAXE the HRA hopes to break ground on the site by this fall.
The project retains the name of the city park on which it was going to be built. When local residents learned of plans to build over most of Cobb Cook Park, they collected signatures, held rallies and pressed the City Council to rescind its sale.
The city and HRA agreed on the new site in July, with the city now pledging to have it shovel-ready, a previous barrier to selection.
The MFHA award and previously secured funding will be nearly enough to cover the project's full estimated cost. Project developer and partner Center City Housing Cop. received a $1.9 million housing grant from Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation last year. The Hibbing Economic Development Authority will contribute up to $250,000 and the HRA will use $100,000 of its own funds.
This was the HRA’s fifth application for state funding and its first success. Prescott is excited.
“I think it’s such a wonderful thing in our community and something that we’ve been eyeing for many years," she said. "I feel like at this point now I know the real work starts.”
Prescott said the great thing about the events of the summer is that the community came together and found a project that best suited its needs.
The state funding will cover the first phase of replacing the blighted Greenhaven Apartments, which are over 70 years old and have excessive damage beyond the scope of repairs. The new development will lower operating costs, the HRA said.
Because the project location was changed just 10 days before applications were due, the exact location of the buildings on the city land is yet unknown.
"We just have a lot more work to do now on the backside where typically we would have done on the front side for this one," Prescott said. "So I think there's just a lot of questions to answer."
The HRA and Center City Housing are working on the application for phase two, which will replace the remaining 48 units. Prescott had previously shared the possibility of a planned, mixed-use development on the site; she said that will be explored further as phase two is developed.
When phase two is completed, Greenhaven will be torn down, potentially opening up the site for more housing in the future.
Cobb Cook Place is not the only Northern Minnesota project included in the latest round of state funding. Others receiving MHFA funding include:
- Leech Lake Homes IX, Cass Lake, new construction of 30 multifamily units
- Hilltop Manor, Eveleth, preservation of 54 multifamily units
- Bjorkberg Grand Marais, Grand Marais, new construction of five single-family units
- Leech Lake Financial Services, Wealth Creation Model, Cass and Itasca counties, new construction of 15 single-family units
- Ridgeway III & IV, Bemidji, preservation of 48 multifamily units
- Red Pine Estates, Bemidji, preservation of 86 multifamily units
- Red Lake Supportive Housing 3, Red Lake, new construction of 24 multifamily units
- River Road Homes, Warroad, 55 manufactured housing lots
- Headwaters Housing Development Corporation, new construction of two single-family units in Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen or Lake of the Woods counties
- North Star Neighbors, Roseau and East Grand Forks, new construction of eight single-family units
- Red Lake Reservation Housing Authority, Red Lake Nation, owner-occupied rehabilitation of 20 single-family units
- White Earth Reservation Housing Authority, on or within 50 miles of White Earth Reservation including Becker, Mahnomen and Clearwater counties, owner-occupied rehabilitation of 35 single-family units
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- Housing remains top issue for local legislators; Bemidji debater competes at state
- Northern MN Reps. Kozlowski, Igo aim for rural housing solutions
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